Years active 1996–2006 | Past members She-JaMie | |
 | ||
Labels VAPSony Music EntertainmentAvex Associated acts Anthem, Galneryus, Gargoyle, Zigoku Quartet, Pink Lady, JAM Project, Eizo Japan, Animetal USA Albums Animetal Marathon, Animetal Marathon V, Decade of Bravehearts, Animetal Marathon VI, Animetal Marathon IV | ||
Animetal (アニメタル, Animetaru) was a Japanese heavy metal band who specialized in metal covers of theme songs from classic and modern Japanese anime and tokusatsu television series.
Contents
They were composed of several luminaries of the Japanese metal scene, most notably vocalist Eizo Sakamoto, who has been involved off and on with Anthem (one of the first Japanese heavy metal bands to achieve name recognition outside Japan in the 1980s) as well as participating in various other projects including the pop rock group Nerima, the JAM Project, and a successful solo career where he also plays lead guitar as well as vocals.
As of 2006, the band is currently on indefinite hiatus. Sakamoto has since begun a similar project called Eizo Japan, but in 2013 he announced that he and She-Ja were reforming Animetal as Aisenshi (哀旋士).
Style
Their music can be classified as speed metal and power metal with a very high level of musical virtuosity, especially on the guitarists' (initially She-Ja for the first four albums, then Syu from Animetal Marathon V to the present) and bassist Masaki's parts. Masaki, in particular from Animetal Marathon IV onward, has shown an intensely active and aggressive approach to his instrument with fluid soloing, manic slapping and popping, energetic fills, and crashing chords for punctuation. The albums are structured as nearly seamless barrages of short songs woven into well-structured medleys that sound as though the band simply enters the studio and lays down virtually the entire album from start to finish in one go, with occasional overdubs and breaks in the action here and there.
Part of the band's nostalgic factor is their incorporation of popular rock-metal instrumentals into some of the songs. For instance, their version of "Choujuu Sentai Liveman" is played to the tune of Judas Priest's "Breaking the Law".
The lyrics are almost entirely in Japanese with occasional lines of "Engrish", which may partly account for why they are virtually unknown outside Japan, except that they admittedly are playing to a very small niche market. For a short time, they incorporated Pink Lady vocalist Mie into the band, hence the name change to "Animetal Lady", and recorded two albums with her distinctive and melodic vocals that are much more commercially accessible than the rest of the Animetal discography.
While they're known more for their covers, the band has a few original songs, including the ballad "Eternal Future" (永遠の未来, Towa no Mirai) from the Rurouni Kenshin film.
Albums
Singles
Videos
Animetal Lady
Songs
Shukuteki Kenzan!Rurouni Kenshin Complete CD-BOX · 2002
The Juppon GatanaRurouni Kenshin: The Best Theme Collection · 1998
Eien no MiraiRurouni Kenshin Complete CD-BOX · 2002